


What Could Have Been

by i_will_always_find_you



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-20
Updated: 2015-04-20
Packaged: 2018-03-25 00:13:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3789472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_will_always_find_you/pseuds/i_will_always_find_you
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marrying Talia was something Oliver had never planned. When he’d agreed to take over for Ra’s and become Heir to the Demon to save his sister’s life, he didn’t realize the repercussions. He didn’t realize that he would be forced to marry Ra’s mysterious daughter Talia in order to become a true heir.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What Could Have Been

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by the upcoming Olicity moments that we have seen in the 3x20. It’s short, but it’s how I imagine the scene. Oliver’s POV.

Marrying Talia was something Oliver had never planned. When he’d agreed to take over for Ra’s and become _Heir to the Demon_ to save his sister’s life, he didn’t realize the repercussions. He didn’t realize that he would be forced to marry Ra’s mysterious daughter Talia in order to become a true heir.

***

Oliver sat alone in one of the many rooms located at the home of the League of Assassins in Nanda Parbat, trying to brainstorm a way out of the situation he’d gotten himself into. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized there was nothing he would do differently. He’d give up his life for his sister’s, no matter the cost. If marrying Talia was the price he had to pay for Thea’s life, so be it.

A few of the candles had stopped burning, and the flame was quickly approaching the end of the wicks on the rest of them. With the room dimly lit, he sat down on the floor and closed his eyes, taking a few deep breaths while trying to forget the smell of Felicity, the way she laughed, her glasses, her hair - everything about her. Tomorrow he would marry Talia and any chance of being with Felicity would evaporate.

He wasn’t naive enough to think he’d grow to love Talia. He knew it was a marriage of convenience and that she was in no rush to marry him either. Ra’s had commanded it, and so it was to be done. There was no more time for discussion. He took a few more deep breaths and opened his eyes. It was time to put his life as Oliver Queen behind him.

A soft knock on the door behind him startled him and he quickly spun around, reaching for the bow and quiver that were never far from his reach.

“Hey there,” she whispered as she pushed open the door a crack. Her glasses were slightly crooked and her eyes were red around the edges. She had obviously been crying. “Do you mind if I come in?”

He was never able to speak properly around her, and this time was no exception. He merely nodded and pointed to the cushions on the floor across from where he was sitting. She was always a tiny bit clumsy, and she fumbled awkwardly while trying to cross her legs and sit down. He couldn’t help but smile for a brief second.

“I wanted to talk to you,” she said softly. “Before you know…tomorrow,” she said, gesturing in the air.

“What about?” He asked. His voice was raspy, nervous.

“Us. Me.”

“There’s no point, Felicity.”

“There is though. I want you to know everything. The truth.”

He shook his head at her. “I…It’s too painful. I can’t think about what could have been. Everything I did, everything that happened, has led me right here, to this moment. Nothing is going to change the fact that I have to marry Talia tomorrow. It was a sacrifice I had to make. For Thea.”

“You’ve made so many sacrifices recently, Oliver. Not just for Thea, but for the rest of us too. For Roy. For me. For us.”

He shook his head at her again. She paused briefly before continuing, “You couldn’t be the Arrow and Oliver Queen and so you couldn’t be with me. It took me a long time to accept that and to understand it, but I’ve understood for some time now. I know why you’ve done everything you’ve ever done.”

“And why is that?”

“Because you love. Fiercely. Deeply. You care about those around so much that you’d give up the world just to make sure everyone else is happy. You gave up pieces of yourself. You gave up me.”

“I had to,” he whispered. He could barely look at her, but he also couldn’t look away.

“I know. And I know that tomorrow you have to marry someone you will never love because of it.” The tears started rolling down her cheeks silently. She wasn’t sobbing, wasn’t making any noise. But she couldn’t hold the tears in any longer. He reached for her, and carefully took off her glasses so that he could wipe them away.

“I love you,” she said. And she meant it. “I’ve loved you since you stumbled into the IT department at Queen Consolidated asking for help. I never stopped and I’m not sure I ever will.”

“You have to,” he said, his hand resting gently on her cheek.

“I wanted you to know how I really felt. If things were different –”

“But they aren’t,” he interrupted.

“But if they were,” she continued, “You and me, we’d have figured it out eventually.”

He stared at her for what seemed like eternity, memorizing the lines of her face, before leaning in and kissing her deeply. His hands curled around the back of her head as he leaned into it. And she kissed him back in a way she had never kissed him before. And before either of them were aware of what they were doing, they were removing each others clothes and he was carrying her across the room.

“Just this one night,” he whispered to her as he laid down with her on top of him. “It’s all we’ll ever have…”

“Once will never be enough,” she replied. And then they were both lost in the night and in each other.


End file.
